Nor are we in Boston anymore, either. It’s certainly been a while, but I’m back! And after: -a very busy summer -packing up all of my worldly possessions into a U Haul -driving nearly 600 miles and 10+ hours (traffic and rain were terrible!) with only a cat as my co-pilot -leaving an old home -establishing a new one -beginning grad school -beginning research (already?! I know!) -getting to know the new boss -all the while...

Hey everyone! If you were following along, you’d know that I took the GRE last monday. It was an… interesting experience. This was my first computer test, so it was a little refreshing to not have a moderator or be in a room with a bunch of my stressed peers taking the same test at the same time. Instead, I was sitting in a cubicle with noise-canceling headphones concentrating on my own exam. I found it pretty fun,...

Hey everyone! Sorry for the inexcusably long absence from the blog. Summer time is research time for me, and I’ve (finally) gotten the chance to put in the long hours that I really don’t have the time for during the semester. Maybe this is just my undergraduate naivete speaking, but to me there’s nothing like working full time in the lab. It’s just nice to have no distractions. The warm weather probably...

Why hello there, It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted, and my apologies to all readers. I’ve been every flavor of busy, and unfortunately I’ve had less time that I’d prefer to write. In the meantime, my co-blogger has had some space to stretch his legs, and I’m very proud of his work. Regular updates will resume shortly, with tales of large scale chemistry for large scale people, GRE gripes,...

Note: Check out my new avatar! Also, Chiral and I are in the process of updating the “about this blog” and blogrolls. I know what you’re thinking: aren’t Scanning Tunneling Microscopes (STMs) hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars? Who has that lying around, much less in grant money? Well… almost nobody. STMs do indeed cost a lot of money, but can tell you a whole lot of stuff about a...

Hello! I hope you’re all having fun at the ACS conference. Don’t forget to go to Disneyland, and know that we on the east coast are all thinking fondly of you. This morning I’m “stuck” in lab doing some exciting assays and studying for a Biological Anthropology exam (which I’m taking for the social science credit, due to the fact that I can’t handle ‘regular’ social science...

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The Safety Zone covers chemical safety issues in academic and industrial research labs and in manufacturing. It is intended to be a forum for exchange and discussion of lab and plant safety and accident information without the fanfare of a news article.